Azurite (Daughter of the Mountain Book 1) by Megan Dent Nagle Read Free Book Online Page A

working lungs to burn in protest.  At times, she could glimpse the panorama of snowcapped mountain peaks below her, and it made her head spin.  Eventually, she came unto a flat rock formation devoid of trees but still surrounded by the enormous sugarpines that layered the air with their sweet scent.  Evangeline paused to catch her breath and rest her exhausted legs when a male voice broke through the silence of the forest surrounding her.
                  “Evangeline Winnser?” 
    The Queen felt her heart stop in surprise then spun around to meet the emissary whom she’d quested out to find.  He was younger than the Queen would have assumed, boyish almost, yet his eyes told a different story.  The sleeveless jerkin he wore displayed his toned arms and shoulders, and it was made out of some type of reptile skin with the scales still intact.  Black leather pants covered his legs and he wore cumbersome black boots with spikes on the toes.  Evangeline couldn’t help but notice the strange tattoo that inked the inside of his forearm from wrist to elbow.
                  The young Queen stood up straight, regaining her regal air, and looked at him without letting on how nervous she was.
                  “Yes, I am Evangeline Winnser, Queen of Samaria.  And who are you?”
                  “A messenger,” he answered quickly as he surveyed his surroundings.  “Would you mind going someplace more private to talk?”  Evangeline also looked around.
                  “We are on the top of an uninhabited mountain, sir, thousands of feet above sea level.  I don’t think we have to worry about anyone listening in on us.”  The emissary looked at her seriously.
                  “Someone is always listening,” he whispered.  His gaze fixed on a point nearby and he said, “This way.” 
    The man extended his hand to lead her, but Evangeline just looked at it distrustfully, wondering how she could avoid becoming possessed by this young sorcerer’s mind tricks.  He just shrugged and dropped it.  The Queen began following the emissary down the rock formation, hopping to and from flatter stones to keeps from falling until she was finally forced to take the stranger’s hand to keep stable.  She flinched initially, but it was dry and warm, just like hers. 
    He led her to an enormous Sugarpine that reached up further than Evangeline could see.  Its cratered trunk was deep brown and massively rotund.  The emissary stood in front of the tree trunk, and with a swift yet controlled movement, he skimmed his hand along the rugged bark.  The air sizzled and glowed with power, followed by the sound of old creaking wood as the monstrous trunk began to shift on top of and below the earth.  It was opening up and hollowing out until there was an indented space big enough for the two of them to stand inside, yet none of the tree was broken or harmed. 
    The man brought Evangeline inside the cratered trunk then ran his hand along the outside of the tree until a coat of sticky bronze sap covered his fingers.  Again, he touched the opening of the trunk and the tree sap lifted from his hand and began to expand until its sticky texture covered the entire opening, sealing against the indented edges of the wood.  It then fell like a curtain to the ground before hardening into an amber-like substance, enclosing the pair inside.  Evangeline gulped.  He had her alone, and there was nowhere she could go.
    “Now, that’s better, isn’t it?” the emissary commented with a sly smile.
    Evangeline was trembling with fury.  This messenger had tricked her.  She felt like screaming at the top of her lungs and pounding at the solid amber so that Vincent would find her and free her from this trap.
    “What are you playing at, stranger?” Evangeline snapped angrily.  “I demand you tell me what you are!  I don’t deal with Slythos !”  She was unable to keep